Apple eMate 300 Troubleshooting Guide
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Fault finding on the Apple eMate 300. Apple's symptom charts and service diagnostics are in the eMate 300 Service Source and work down to the module; the hinge and display cable fault, the commonest on surviving machines, comes from owners' repairs.[1] Battery work, resets and opening the case are on Apple eMate 300 General Maintenance.
Before opening it
[edit | edit source]- Check that the volume and contrast sliders are not both at minimum; an eMate in that state looks dead.[2]
- Measure the adapter: about 7 V at the plug, not below 6 V and never above 7.5 V.[2]
- Connect the adapter and watch the charge light: amber while charging, green when charged. If it is still amber after two hours, suspect the battery pack.[2][1]
- Remove any PC Card, press Reset and wait. Frank Gründel allows up to five minutes before moving on.[2]
- If the display is dead but the eMate still talks to a desktop over serial, back it up first. Frank Gründel's DataRescue package opens the connection automatically on reset.[2]
Apple's symptom charts
[edit | edit source]| Symptom | Cures, in order |
|---|---|
| Backlight blinks after start-up | Power-on memory test failed. Remove any memory card and press Reset; remove the battery for 30 seconds; reseat the ROM card; replace the logic board. |
| Will not power on | Set the contrast and volume to mid-range; plug in the adapter, press Reset and wait at least 30 seconds for the chime; remove adapter and battery and reseat the ROM card; remove any memory card; if the chime sounds but there is no image, press the backlight key, and if the light comes on replace the LCD; replace the logic board. |
| "Your eMate is missing important calibration information and should be returned to a service provider." | Replace the logic board; send the old board to the repair centre. |
| Speaker does not work | Unplug headphones; check the volume slider; soft reset; battery out for 30 seconds; replace the speaker; replace the logic board. |
| PC Card does not work | Reseat the card; soft reset; battery out for 30 seconds; replace the logic board. |
| Infrared does not work | Soft reset; battery out for 30 seconds; replace the logic board. |
| Keyboard does not work | Soft reset; freeze packages; hard reset; keyboard diagnostics; replace the keyboard; replace the logic board. |
| Tablet does not work | Check the application; soft reset; freeze packages; battery out; hard reset; tablet diagnostics; reseat the display and tablet flex cable at both ends; reseat the tablet flex connector; replace the tablet; replace the logic board. |
| Backlight does not work | Check it in a dim room; soft reset; battery out for 30 seconds; replace the backlight; replace the logic board. |
| Battery will not charge | Soft reset; remove and test the battery; refit it and charge; battery diagnostics; repeat up to five times for a battery that has stood idle; replace the battery; replace the logic board. |
| Serial port does not work | Test with the Newton Interconnect Adapter; soft reset; freeze packages; battery out; if the 9-pin port works but the 26-pin does not, replace the adapter; if the 26-pin works but the 9-pin does not, replace the logic board. |
Apple notes that the 7-watt Newton adapter charges the eMate more slowly than the 9-watt one.[1]
Service diagnostics
[edit | edit source]Apple's diagnostics come on a PC Card, part number 077-0153. Open the lid to switch on, insert the card and ignore the dialog that appears, press Reset until the eMate beeps, take the card out at once, and tap the centre of the box shown to reach the Service Menu. It offers logic board, RAM card, ROM card, LCD, keyboard, battery and loop tests. The destructive logic board test erases all data.[1]
Hinge springs and the display cable
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Symptoms: the pen stops working, or lines or blocks of the screen go blank, or both. A squeak, scrape, pop or click as the lid moves usually comes first.[3][4]
Cause: each hinge holds the lid with two friction springs whose legs are trapped under a central screw. When the grease dries, a spring binds on its axle and winds itself out from under the screw, and the free leg then pierces the display ribbon cable that wraps round the hinge. In Joel Sciamma's example a single leg cut four conductors and disabled the touchscreen while the picture stayed intact.[3] Frank Gründel notes that a completely dead screen with a working backlight is not usually this fault; the hinge damage normally shows as missing lines or a dead touchscreen.[5]
Repair:
- Stop opening and closing the lid.
- Take out the logic board to see the hinges (see General Maintenance). If a spring leg is out, the hinge must come out for the springs to be straightened.[3]
- Clean the hinge, reshape the spring tails to about 7 mm, re-grease, and refit with a creased steel washer under the central screw.[3]
- If the cable is cut, fit a replacement display cable; the Newton FAQ lists Tech by Androda and NewtonSales as suppliers.[4] Joel Sciamma has repaired a cut cable by scraping the insulation off the traces under magnification, bridging each break with fine copper wire, checking every trace for continuity and for shorts to its neighbours, and wrapping the repair in self-amalgamating tape. The traces are 0.5 mm apart, and a pad lifts after a couple of reheats.[3]
Wrong adapter
[edit | edit source]An owner who plugged in a 9 V adapter heard a pop at the next reset and found capacitor C101 burnt. Frank Gründel's advice is that the eMate has a MAX1771 converter (U29) next to C101, the part that usually fails on a MessagePad 2000 or 2100 run from more than 7.5 V; if the eMate keeps trying to boot after C101 is replaced, replace U29 as well. See the MessagePad 2000 description of that fault.[6]
Backlight whine and rattle
[edit | edit source]The whine with the backlight on comes from the EL transformer and is normal.[7] On the eMate the transformer is T2, whose top was loose from the factory and rattles, making the whine louder; Frank Gründel glues it to its base during repairs. A backlight that has stopped may only have a loose red wire, which can be resoldered.[6]
Battery
[edit | edit source]A pack that will not take a charge after Apple's five rounds of reset and charging is worn out. It can be rebuilt with four AA NiMH cells; see General Maintenance.[1][8]
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Apple eMate 300
- Apple eMate 300 General Maintenance
- Apple eMate 300 Service Source
- Apple Newton MessagePad Troubleshooting Guide
- Battery Refurbishment
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Apple Computer, eMate 300 (Service Source), 118 pp., 1997. Hosted as File:EMateServiceManual.pdf; see Apple eMate 300 Service Source. PDF pages: symptom charts pp. 28–40 (cures in order of likelihood; refit the original module before trying the next cure); eMate Service Diagnostics pp. 41–73.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Frank Gründel, "eMate Disassembly", PDA-Soft, pda-soft.de (read 2 October 2026). Community guide: volume and contrast; the adapter check; the charge light test; resets and waiting; DataRescue; the hinge spring as the cause of a punctured display cable, usually with pen input lost too.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Joel M. Sciamma, "Repairing eMate Hinges and Display Cable", Inventors Emporium, inventors-emporium.co.uk (read 2 October 2026). Community repair guide: symptoms; the clutch springs and their retaining screw; the spring leg that cut four conductors and disabled the touchscreen; dried grease as the cause (Simon Muller); stopping use of the lid after a pop or click; the creased washer; repairing the flexible cable.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Newton FAQ, Part II: Hardware, C8 and C9 (eMate lid noise and screen), newtonfaq.com (read 2 October 2026). Broken or loose tension springs in the hinges, the noise, damage to the display flex cable, partial or total loss of the screen; replacement cables from Tech by Androda and NewtonSales.
- ↑ Frank Gründel, reply in "eMate", NewtonTalk, 15 April 2012, MARC archive. Community report.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Frank Gründel, reply in "Need Assistance With Repairing eMate 300", NewtonTalk, 1 January 2025, MARC archive. Community report: C101 burnt by a 9 V adapter; U29 (MAX1771) beside it; T2 as the backlight transformer with a top that was loose from the factory, adding to the backlight whine, which he glues; a loose red backlight wire to be resoldered.
- ↑ Newton FAQ, Part II: Hardware, C1 "Why does my Newton device buzz or whine when the backlight is on?", newtonfaq.com (read 2 October 2026).
- ↑ Frank Gründel, "How to rebuild / refurbish an Apple eMate battery pack", PDA-Soft, pda-soft.de/emate_battery_pack.html (read 2 October 2026). Community guide.